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Saudi nationals can now get five-year multiple-entry temporary resident visas to enter Canada. The changes facilitate the movement of students and business people between Saudi Arabia and Canada. Despite the stricter visa controls, the number of Saudis entering Canada on temporary resident visas has increased considerably since 2002. In 2009, Canada granted temporary resident visas to 5,292 new Saudi students and 1,665 Saudi workers in 2009, according to data compiled by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Starting in 2002, Saudi nationals were required to apply for temporary resident visas before coming to Canada to visit, study or work, and each visa was only valid for a period of 18 months. These strict visa requirements were imposed on Saudis due to security concerns over fraudulent Saudi passports. Prior to 2002, Saudi nationals could enter Canada without a visa.

There are currently around 8,200 students from Saudi Arabia at Canadian academic institutions, including 750 medical doctors. Two thousand more students from Saudi Arabia are expected to start studying in Canada before 2011. Canada hopes that the more lenient temporary resident visa policy will permit more Saudi visitors, students and workers to enter the country.

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Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced that the Government of Canada has amended its current immigration procedures to put even greater emphasis on economic recovery and further reduce the Federal Skilled Worker application backlog. The changes, effective immediately, concern the Federal Skilled Worker program, including:
1) a change in the occupations that are currently ‘open’ under this program,
2) the creation of a limit on the number of applications which will be considered by Canadian Immigration Visa Offices, and
3) a change in the documentation required for an application under this program.

These changes do not affect any applications received at the Central Intake Office before June 26, 2010.

Under these updated instructions, an application is eligible for processing if the applicant:
• has at least one year of continuous, full-time (or equivalent) paid work experience in the past decade in a qualifying occupation, which have been identified as the most in-demand occupations in Canada at this time; or
• qualifies for Arranged Employment with a full-time permanent job offer from a Canadian employer.

Applicants who formerly qualified because they had been living in Canada with legal status as a Temporary Foreign Worker or an international student will no longer be eligible under the Federal Skilled Worker program, but may still meet the eligibility criteria of the Canadian Experience Class program.

The former list of 38 qualifying occupations has been amended to include 11 new occupations with 20 previously listed occupations having been removed.

Effective immediately, the following occupations have been added to the list:
0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
2151 Architects
3113 Dentists
3131 Pharmacists
3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
4151 Psychologists
4152 Social Workers
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades

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The number of applicants for asylum in Finland has dropped sharply. This year an estimated 2,000 fewer asylum seekers are expected in Finland than last year. Last year the number of applicants totalled 6,000. Coinciding with this year’s drop in applications, the Finnish Immigration Service is also cutting the number of reception center places. Although numbers are down, this could change depending on what kinds of crises are brewing around the world.

About ten new reception centers have been set up in the past couple of years. More recently the Finnish Immigration Service has reduced allocated places at reception centers by 700, and more cuts are expected.

A law took effect this month allowing fast-track processing for asylum applications by citizens of other European Union countries.This has already reduced the number of applicants from Bulgaria. In practice, a citizen from another EU country cannot be granted asylum in Finland.

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Angola’s Migration and Foreigners Services (SME) have digitalized operations which will enable it issue visas online, PANA reports quoting the Angolan News Agency. Deputy Minister of Interior for Migration, Eduardo Martins, said that 32 Angolan consulates had already been linked in the online operations.

Speaking at a meeting of ministers and governors of the Angolan provinces sharing borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), at the weekend in northern Uige province, Martins said 25 more consulates would be linked online next month.

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The UK government assured foreign investors that the proposed caps on immigration for economic migrants will not hurt companies seeking to do business in UK, and any changes to the takeover laws will not single out foreign investors.

“The policy will be managed to make sure that foreign investors interests are not harmed,” said secretary of state Vince Cable, at an event announcing UK’s national FDI figures. “The new government was expected to demonstrate that it was managing immigration. We are aware that foreign investors need to bring in high level managers, skills, and have intra-company transfers,” in a first such assurance that overseas investors are not hit by immigration caps. He also clarified that while the independent takeover panel is in the process of reviewing UK’s takeover laws, which were “too permissive in the past, the changes will not be enormous, and it will affect both domestic and foreign companies in the same way.”
The new government has committed to cut non-EU economic migration to ‘thousands’, but a mechanism to implement this policy has yet to be worked out. UK’s takeover laws are currently being tightened, after widespread criticism of the Kraft-Cadbury takeover, which resulted in massive job losses in the UK.

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Dubai plans to launch a special visa system to lure talented foreign entrepreneurs as it tries to boost its economy after the global downturn. Under the EntrePass scheme, budding start-ups with high commercial value will be encouraged to set up in Dubai and share knowledge and intellectual property rights with the emirate. Entrepreneurs will have their visa application expedited and be provided with guidance from experts at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment (MBRE) for SME Development in starting their businesses.

In the fourth quarter, MBRE will launch a pilot programme for EntrePass involving 10 entrepreneurs before widening the scheme. Based on a similar system in Singapore, EntrePass is designed as an alternative to conventional business visas. In certain cases, they may also have access to finance through the UAE’s first Sharia-compliant venture capital fund.

“We want Dubai to be the centre for innovative small and medium enterprises [SMEs],” said Alexandar Williams, the director of strategy and policy division at MBRE, an agency of the Department of Economic Development in Dubai. The future of Dubai will rest on nurturing selective foreign entrepreneurs with good ideas to use Dubai as a test bed for development and to build business around it. MBRE plans to select and invite individuals or companies with strong entrepreneurial records to apply for the visa by offering them the promise of guidance throughout the setting-up process. MBRE was launched by the Dubai Government with the intention of supporting the growing number of start-ups in the emirate.

The pass will last between two and three years, enough time for initial businesses concepts to be fully tested and launched. “We are looking at any company with new business models and existing technology that can be adapted to the UAE and that could benefit Dubai through the sharing of intellectual property and knowledge transfer,” said Mr Williams.

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The decision to block the new UK immigration restrictions, introduced by former Home Secretary Alan Johnson, has been welcomed by language schools across the country.Rules that would have prevented UK student visa holders moving to the UK unless they had sufficient language skills, have been overturned by a judge.

The ruling came from Mr Justice Foskett, who criticised the fact that the new rules were to be established through changes to existing guidelines. He concluded that the rules should have been legally binding, which would have required them to be approved by parliament.

English UK, a group that represents 440 language schools around the UK, is celebrating the ruling. The group’s chief executive, Tony Milns, said, “We believe that his decision is good for the UK economy, to which the English language sector contributes about £1.5 billion in foreign earnings each year.”
Home Secretary, Theresa May, may choose to make if she still wants to introduce measures to prevent people abusing the UK student visa system. She can either remake Alan Johnson’s rules and make sure the are approved by MPs before being introduced, or she can postpone any changes until the effects of her new cap on non-EU UK immigration are established.

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The fees for US visa applications have changed for the second time this year. As a result of the changes announced by the US Department of State, US visa applications for immigrants sponsored by immediate family, will now cost $330. Visa applications on employment-based cases, i.e applications for US work visas, will see fees increase to $720.

The fee changes, which are chargeable from yesterday (13 July 2010) affect all 301 US foreign consular offices as well as other passport and US visas offices serving US citizens. Other visa fee changes were announced on 4 June this year. The increase in fees has been introduced to make sure the rising cost of providing consular services can be met, according to press releases sent to all consular offices.

The changes are the result of an exhaustive cost of service study, which was carried out last summer. The study developed a clearer picture of the cost to the US immigration department of providing its services. The department says it is keen to make sure that costs are met by the service users, rather than by the US taxpayer.

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Canadian immigration feels that that the investment requirements are too low. The investment requirements have not changed for more than ten years. The current system attracts more applicants than are required each year under the immigration plan. This has resulted in an increase in processing times. Canadian immigration intends to significantly increase the investment requirements for the immigrant investor program:
* A personal net worth of $1.6M instead of $800,000
* An investment requirement of $800,000 instead of $400,000
Immigration Minister Kenney said: “Canada needs investor immigrants.These changes are necessary to keep Canada’s program competitive with that of other countries, and keep pace with the changing economy.”

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UK Immigration has confirmed that the permanent limit on Tier 1 (General) applications under the points based system will start in April 2011. The interim limit on Tier 1 (General) visas will start on 19 July 2010.

Following are the major changes to the Tier 1 visa system:
* The passmark for the Tier 1 visa (General) will increase from 95 to 100 points from 19 July 2010 for many applicants. This will mean that fewer people will qualify for the Tier 1 (General) visa from 19 July 2010. Further details of people who do not have to come under the higher passmark can be found below.

* There will be a monthly interim limit on Tier 1 (General) visas from 19 July 2010. If in any one month your application is received after the limit is reached you will have to wait and your application will then be considered under the limit for the following month. The good news is that many people are excluded from this limit. Please see further details below.

* If you are already in the UK under the Tier 1 (General) visa and are applying for an extension or you are in the UK under another immigration category and wish to switch to Tier 1 (General) you will not come under the interim limit.

* If you are in the UK in any of the following categories and wish to extend your stay or switch to Tier 1 (General), you will only need to gain the lower points score of 95 points:
– Tier 1 (General)
– Highly Skilled Migrant Programme
– Writers, Composers and Artists
– Self-Employed Lawyers
* If you wish to come under the Investor, Entrepreneur and Post-study work categories of Tier 1 you will not come under the interim limit. There will be no limit on the number of applications that can be made.

* If you are in the UK in an immigration category not mentioned above for example Tier 1 (Post-study work) or Tier 2 visa then you will have to gain the higher 100 points to be able to switch into Tier 1 (General).

* If you are applying for entry at a British Embassy or Consulate from outside the UK you will have to gain the higher 100 points to come under Tier 1 (General).

Hence, if you are affected by the changes in the Tier 1 (General) points system and new Tier 1 limit you should consider applying before 19 July 2010.